


Filling the Gaps

by Lynds



Series: The Spaces In Between [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Crack, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-01 20:39:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10199582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynds/pseuds/Lynds
Summary: Sure, Thanos is out there looking for Vali and Narfi. Yes, Tony still has to battle villains and anxiety, while Loki hides from the governments of at least two realms and his own suicidal tendencies. But most of the time, their lives with the two kids are filled with the surreal comedy that only children can provide.In which Tony and Loki get a few months of silly, fluffy parenting time with two bonkers children before Lynds starts tormenting them again.





	1. Musical Education

**Author's Note:**

> Some of this fic is me experimenting with how to write realistic child characters...by basically writing down everything my own children do. In the hopes that one day I may be able to create original child characters without feeling they're one dimensional. Please be my guinea pigs? I'll only expose you to a few chapters! I hope it makes you laugh before the angst hits again ;)
> 
> The song Tony's listening to is I Like It Heavy by Halestorm.
> 
> Also, of course my laptop uploaded this fic twice. And then I tried to delete one version. And OF COURSE I deleted the one two people had commented on before I could bloody read the comments! I'm so sorry, I hope you see this, mystery commenters!

_I’ve got a demon in my soul and a voice in my head, it’s saying go go go I can sleep when I’m dead. There’s a sonic revelation bringing me to my knees, and there’s a man down below who needs my sympathy. Got a ringing in my ears getting ready to burst_

“Tony, why is that lady shouting?”

_screaming ‘Hallelujah motherfucker take me to church_

Tony froze. “Uh, hi Vali. Didn’t know you were standing there.”

“She sounds really angry.”

Tony turned slowly. “OK, first of all, please don’t say the rude word in front of _Modir_.”

“What rude word?”

“And secondly, she’s not angry, she’s having a great time. She’s partying.”

Vali giggled. “Nooooo, she’s shouting.”

“You shout when you’re having a good time.”

“Noooo,” she shouted, giggling like Tony was literally the most hilarious thing in the world. Which he was. But it was so rarely recognised.

“I’m not kidding,” he laughed and picked her up, sitting her on his knee. “Now, listen up, small Jotun, because this is important. This,” he pointed at the speakers in the ceiling, “is heavy metal. After Classic Rock, it’s the second best music ever produced in the Nine Realms.”

“What’s her name?”

“Who?” he asked, derailed.

“The lady.”

“Lizzy Hale, I think. But the band’s called Halestorm.”

She nodded. “What are you making?”

“Hey, I was gonna give you a musical education, kid, don’t try and distract me. C’mon, what music do you like.”

“That one that goes _nah nah oh yeah ooh yeeeeaaah_.” She wiggled on his lap, waving her chubby little arms around, and did some sort of weird pouty thing with her mouth that made Tony squash his lips together so he didn’t just burst out laughing.

“I have no idea what that was.”

“If I may, sir, Miss Vali has been requesting _Sail_ by AWOLnation recently.”

“Really? You actually do have a favourite song? Where the…where did you hear that, then?”

JARVIS answered for her when she made no attempt to do so for herself. “I have been playing the children a variety of songs to dance to for musical statues. Miss Vali takes great offence when _Sail_ is interrupted, though.”

“Sail!” yelled Vali, making vague approximations to the tune and the distinctive heavy drum beats of the song. “JARVIS, play _Sail?_ ”

“Not unless you ask politely,” said the AI.

“Please play _Sail_ JARVIS?”

As soon as the song thundered through the speakers, Vali leaped off Tony’s lap and started bobbing up and down, swinging her hands from side to side and getting as close to the speakers in the corner as she could, like she was hypnotised. Tony laughed as she shrieked “Sail!” every time they lyric hit, pronouncing both syllables heavily and trying to sing along to the words when the verse started up too. 

“Come dance, Tony!”

Tony shrugged and slipped of his seat. Not that he knew how to dance to such a slow beat, but Vali wasn’t exactly a connoisseur. All she wanted was to grab his index finger and use him to twirl her into spin after spin until she was practically twisting his finger off.

“What else is she into, JARV,” he asked as the song came to a close.

“Mostly that, sir,” he said, and Tony’s lip twitched at the long-suffering tone. “But she also seems to know half of the lyrics to Bastille’s _Bad Blood_ album, and _the Second Law_ by Muse. I think Master Jormungandr may be responsible for that.”

“Seriously? Where did he hear that stuff?”

“I believe he has been researching music on YouTube.”

“Of course the snake’s an emo,” sighed Tony. “Does Narfi like anything in particular?”

“He seems to favour gentler songs. His favourite is _Explorers_ , on Master Jormungandr’s Muse album, but he only seems to know it by the track number.”

“Indeed,” said Jor himself, tapping down the stairs as JARVIS spoke. “He demands it whenever I plays the album. ‘Jor, Jor, play number eight!’ He also insists on identifying the high hat any time it is played in any song.” He grinned at Vali and picked her up. “Vali likes the heavy stuff, don’t you?”

“Sail!”

“She wasn’t too impressed with Halestorm,” grumbled Tony.

“I played _Toxicity_ by System of a Down once,” Jor said. “She refused to leave the room until it finished.”

“I’m horrified,” said Tony, frowning at the boy. “What do you mean you only played it _once?_ ”

He gave a lazy smirk. “Not really my thing.”

“What is _wrong_ with you?”

“Well, I don't know if you have noticed, but I regularly turn into a giant snake.”

“All the more reason you should be listening to Black Sabbath and Marylin Manson, then. You’re letting the side down, kid!”

“Oh, just wait until Fenrir comes to stay. I feel sure he will enjoy Clint’s disco music. It is…unbearably cheerful.”

Tony shuddered. “Don’t expose me to that, Jor. My heart can’t handle the stress of eighties cheese.”


	2. Lunchtime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to get children to eat is an effort...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not 100% sure about this chapter - it's a bit of an experiment. I always feel like I make my child characters really stereotypical, so for this episode I actually taped my family lunch and blatantly transcribed and modified it! So it's very unpolished...what do you think?

“Sit on your chair properly, Vali,” said Loki.

“I aaaaam,” she sing-songed, wiggling her little butt off the seat so one leg was holding her up and she just barely perched on the chair.

“Vali,” Loki warned.

“Oh yeah, I’m not.” She sat back down with a plonk. “I’m sitting on my own, I’m sitting on my own.” She stared around the room, ignoring her salami and cream cheese sandwich.

“ _That_ was delicious,” Narfi said, licking his fingers and slumping back on his seat. Vali immediately took it as permission to slide half way under the table too.

“Vali, don’t copy your brother. Eat your sandwich.”

She sat up, but made strange bird-like noises and poked her sandwich instead.

“Can I have some more ham please?” Narfi asked.

“Meat monster,” said Tony affectionately and passed him a slice from the packet. “Eat some of Vali’s bread with it?”

Vali was rolling her head back and forth over the back of the chair singing away to herself.

“Vali, _sit_ properly and eat this piece of sandwich.”

She scrunched her nose and lips up and groaned, turning her face away. Loki put the piece back on her plate and turned away. Narfi was making _omnomnom_ sounds as he ate his second sandwich.

“Do I need to touch the floor?” Vali asked, sliding down on the seat again.

“You do not. Do I need to get you a chair like the one you have at the Barton’s, that you cannot get out of? Or shall I just get a piece of rope and tie you to that chair?”

“You can tie me to this chair,” she said with a sly smile. Loki narrowed his eyes at her, then materialised a soft rope and started looping it over her tummy and through the slats in the back of the chair. Vali giggled. “I’m staying still.”

Tony snorted. “You’re going to have to stay still in a minute.”

Loki finished a large bow at the back of the chair and Vali waved her arms around, jerking in the seat. Tony cracked up into giggles.

“That is the most _silly_ idea I have ever seen!” Narfi giggled, mouth full.

“I told you I would tie you to a chair.”

“Aaah! I can’t get out!” Vali squeaked. “I can’t reach my hot chocolate!” She held her hands out for her drink, which was well within her grasp and clutched at open air.

“Yes you can, you fool,” said Loki.

Vali shrugged and picked her cup up, blowing bubbles in her hot chocolate. Narfi shrieked with giggles and copied her.


	3. Stonehenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Narfi doesn't get why Tony would want to be sleeping so late in the morning. It's 7:30am already, things to be done...

“Tony, look, I painted a _picture_ of _Stonehenge_.”

“Awesome,” he croaked, sleep deprived. “Where’s your _Modir_ and Vali?”

“They went out for a walk. I wanted to stay with you.”

“Awesome.”

He let his eyes drift shut again. Narfi was rustling about with paper and something, but for a change the little chatterbox was being quiet. Tony was _just_ drifting off to sleep again when the curtains flew open, sending bright daggers of pain into his eyes.

“Aaaah, what the…what the heck, kid?”

“Sorry.” He sounded supremely unconcerned. “I was going to do some painting.”

Tony squinted his eyes open and peered at the little boy through the slitted eyelids. “Why do you have to paint on our windowsill?”

“Because this is where my _paints_ are, silly.”

“Oh, obviously.” 

“Silly Tony,” he giggled. Tony couldn’t help but snort himself. The kid had such an expressive voice, half of his words practically came out italicised. He started fiddling about with the watercolours Loki had bought for him when he’d used the fancy kit Cooper Barton had for his birthday present and stared open mouthed at the smoothness of the paint. Apparently Loki’s kids had expensive tastes. Literally no-one was surprised. Loki didn’t want or have much, but what he did have was the best quality available. 

The little boy stood with one finger tapping on his chin and a damp paintbrush brandishing about. There was a dark blue streak running the length of the top of the paper, and a wider green streak at the bottom. In the white space between were grey vertical and horizontal lines, which were quite clearly supposed to be the ancient stone circle. Tony figured he might even be able to tell what they were without Narfi’s constant obsession with them over the past few weeks, since they’d seen a kids show about little characters saving the monuments from being damaged by the crappiest supervillain in history. Apparently the guy had wanted to play dominoes. Tony could imagine Doom having similar motivations, though, so really, it was surprisingly realistic. If he was honest, Loki was even more likely to play dominoes with ancient bluestones. 

“Why don’t you paint the sunrise?” Tony asked, remembering Narfi talking about the summer solstice.

“Oh yeah!” He stepped forward and started loading his brush up. “I’m going to paint the hill stone and here’s the indent in the rock and it’s yellow behind because you can see the sun.”

“Cool,” Tony said, rolling onto his side and peering at the picture as his eyesight started to co-operate. The hill stone looked strangely closer to the foreground than the henge itself, but it was pretty accurate in shape. Or, at least, it looked like a stone. “What about some rays of light?”

Narfi nodded and added in a bunch of streaks of yellow, some of which went over the top of the rocks behind, so Stonehenge itself was now behind the sunrise. Tony’s lips twisted in amusement. 

“Do you know how they lit fires in those days? They used _stone_. A special stone called flint. I found some, would you like to see it?”

“Sure.”

Narfi trotted off and returned with two completely different stones. Tony was pretty sure neither of them was flint. “Look, this one’s got shiny bits in it, so you can tell that’s the flint.”

“Are you sure?”

“Uh-huh. How do you think they lit fires with this?”

“Well, I think you can make sparks with flint and steel…although they didn’t have steel in those days, did they?”

“Uncle Clint said they can use _two rocks_ to light fires.”

“Uncle Clint can probably light fires with his steely gaze,” snarked Tony.

Narfi raised his eyebrows and looked pityingly at Tony. “Really?” he said, and the epic levels of sarcasm almost made Tony wither. He was so proud. 

It took a lot of effort to trick Narfi. He was the kind of kid who looked gullible, with his huge blue eyes and his sweet nature, but if he didn’t quite believe someone he’d look at them with a pinched expression and a frown and try and figure out what was wrong with the statement. Tony was exposed to that piercing gaze quite often. He’d tell Narfi that penguins could only fly underwater and Narfi would squint at him until he got Loki to assure him it was true. 

Loki was apparently the arbiter of truth around here, which Tony found amusing for the God of Lies. It was probably because Loki tried to avoid lying to his children at all costs, which meant Narfi had already had the sex talk (he’d asked how Nate got into Laura’s tummy) and Vali knew what photosynthesis was (she’d asked how plants can eat when they don’t have a mouth). 

Tony, on the other hand, had assumed Narfi would be as gullible as all kids of his human-equivalent age. He’d once tried the ‘got your nose’ trick on Narfi. The boy had been reading to himself, Tony reached over and pinched his nose, sticking his thumb between his middle and index fingers, and said “hey, look, I took your nose off.” He’d never seen a kid _not_ touch their nose in horror. 

Narfi just looked at his thumb, then looked at Tony and shook his head in disappointment. “No, Tony,” he’d said, and gone back to reading. 

Oooh, burn.

Tony groaned and climbed out of bed, wandering through the room getting dressed and brushing his teeth. Narfi followed the whole time, clutching his painting and chattering constantly. Tony followed along with most of it, but he had to admit to zoning out once or twice, catching the tail ends of gems like “and then Lila was _sick in a bag_ in the _car!_ ” and “what do you _really_ want for your birthday?” and “I only ate a bun for breakfast, but I’m _really_ full now.” Tony nodded and hummed and answered and asked questions, and felt quite accomplished at paying even this limited attention at such an antisocial hour of the morning. Honestly, who even gets up at 8am?

Narfi was staring off into space, quiet for a moment. “I guess I’d better turn back to the flamingoes.”

Tony stopped in the middle of pouring coffee and tried to figure out that last sentence. He turned to Narfi with a frown.

“You don’t know _what_ I’m talking about, do you?” said the little boy, shaking his head in amusement.

“Not a clue.”

“My _calendar_ , silly.”

Tony thought a bit more. Then it dawned on him. “Ohhhhh, the calendar. You changed the page too early. But we were talking about that yesterday, how did you even get _onto_ that subject?”

Narfi shrugged and turned back to his painting. “I think I should get you a ball for your birthday.”

Tony shook his head and laughed. Trying to keep up with Narfi’s verbal segues was like courting whiplash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The kids TV show mentioned is Go Jetters, on CBeebies, I don't know if it exists outside of the UK. It's pretty awesome. They have a rainbow unicorn who does disco dancing.


	4. Pigeons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and the kids go shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last fluffy chapter, so the new fic starts soon - hopefully this chapter, being from Loki's POV, will tie it in nicely.

Loki held tight to Vali and Narfi’s hands as they crossed the parking lot of the mall. Tony and Clint had taught him to drive after a bout of cabin fever had resulted in him and the children painting planets and stars, and, in Loki’s case, equations, all over the kitchen walls. Tony kept it there for months, saying he needed to brush up on his astrophysics anyway, but they thought it was best to give them some extra freedom.

“Pigeon!” Vali squealed, opening and closing her hands at the birds on the wall, who flew away over the street. “Awww. I want a pigeon.”

“I do not think we can buy them here, Vali.”

The kids raced to press the button on the lift. Narfi won, and Vali stomped up and down and wailed. “You can press the button for the correct floor, Vali,” Loki promised, trying not to react to her near-constant tantrums. He had found her difficult to understand to begin with. He remembered Narfi at the same age, and he’d stamped his feet and shouted perhaps once. Vali was a different matter. He’d spoken to Angrboda about it. She simply rolled her eyes and said they were just fundamentally different children. Narfi wanted to please everyone, while Vali pleased herself.

“Press B, press B!” Narfi yelled as the lift doors opened. Vali hovered her hand above the correct letter and looked at Loki until he nodded. As the lift swooped downwards, both children shrieked and hung off the hand rail, leaning their heads backwards to look at him. 

“Why are you hanging off the floor like a bat?” asked Vali.

Loki smirked and rolled his eyes. Narfi copied his little sister, and the entire journey to the lower floor was filled with the same sentence, and lots of giggling.

The day was cool and clear, bright blue skies making it look a lot warmer than it was, and Vali’s jumper was buffeted out behind her as she ran across the open space to the shops, her hands high in the air. Narfi raced after her, wrapped up much warmer with a hat and scarf he refused to relinquish, since Lila had given them to him. They raced far ahead, disappearing into the building, and Loki felt a stab of irrational fear, racing after them as they turned a corner. 

When both children started running back towards him he released a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. He held out both hands and they ran to grab onto him.   
 “Can we go to the toilet first?” Narfi asked, hand clamped firmly over his crotch.

“How are you so desperate when we only left home five minutes ago?” he sighed, and led them towards the men’s room.

“I’m a girl,” said Vali, to the first man she met there, who was, of course, using the urinal. Loki blushed and pulled her away, listening to the embarrassed sniggers of the man behind them. “My brother’s a boy and _Modir’s_ a boy but he used to be a girl,” Vali called back to the poor man, undaunted, and Loki wondered if he could cook marshmallows on the heat coming off his own face. 

_“Modir?”_

“Yes, Narfi, I’m here, you do not need to shout.”

“I’m in this toilet. The one in the middle. You can see my feet, I’ll stick them out. Do you see me? Where are you?”

“I am by the sinks, just go to the toilet.”

“If you crouch down on the floor you’ll be able to see my shoes.”

“I do not need to see your shoes.”

“I’ll bash the door, then you’ll hear—“

“Narfi?”

“Yes?”

“Get on with it.”

“OK.”

Eventually they managed to escape the toilet, after Vali managed to scare several more men into using cubicles when they didn’t need to, by asking them why they could wee standing up and she couldn’t. Loki wasn’t sure whether to hide his face from embarrassment or hysterical giggles, and instead ended up red faced and biting his lip to hold back his grin.

She was _definitely_ his daughter.

They spent an hour in the bookshop. Narfi couldn’t decide which book he wanted most, while Vali found the colouring table and struck up a conversation with a shy toddler and her mother. Eventually, Narfi returned with a book about a child who could speak to zoo animals, and one with butterflies printed along the edge of the pages, and turned his big blue eyes up to Loki. “I definitely know I want one of these two, but I just _can’t decide_ which one I want _most_.”

He was definitely his son.

“Luckily,” he said, holding up a copy of _Aliens Love Underpants_ that Vali had been giggling over, “if you buy two books you can have a third for free. Perhaps, just this time, we will get all three.”

“Yesssss!” 

He gave Narfi the money and Vali the loyalty card, and they trotted to the front to monopolise the girl behind the counter. “I couldn’t decide what book to get, but _Modir_ said I could have _both_ ,” Narfi told her. 

“You’re lucky, then, aren’t you?”

“I _love_ books.”

“Yeah? What’re you reading at the moment?”

“Well, I _was_ reading _Narnia_ but then,” he sighed dramatically, and Loki saw the woman bite her lips against a smile. “I got distracted by _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_.”

“Well, that’s a good book to get distracted by.”

“I know. I _love_ Roald Dahl. _Matilda_ just _inspired_ me to read more.”

“Me too,” she smiled. “Would you like a bag?”

“Yes please.”

She handed the bag to Narfi and caught Loki’s eye as they left. “They are _adorable_ ,” she squeaked in a whisper.

“I know,” he smiled. “Thank you.”

They were on their way back to the car park when Vali saw the pigeons again, walking in the open space. She held out her hands and walked behind one of the fat birds, a gleam in her eye. The pigeon managed to keep just a pace ahead of her, its head bobbing back and forth, unconcerned, as she followed it. “Come here, pigeon!”

“I don’t think that will work, Vali,” Loki chuckled.

“I just want to stroke you,” she crooned. “Come on, pigeon. _Modir_ , why is it not coming?”

“Most birds do not like being stroked, especially not wild ones.”

“Aww. I want a pigeon.”

Loki crouched down. “I will be your pigeon,” he laughed. 

She turned to him with a naughty little smile and ran across the path, jumping into his arms and knocking him off balance. “Narfi, I’ve got a pigeon!”

Loki laughed again and stood with her in his arms. “Are you sure it is not I who has a pigeon?”

“No, you’re my pigeon. Here, pigeon, have some seeds,” she said, holding out her flat hand to his face. He pretended to peck at the palm of her hand, and she squashed her hand against his nose and mouth until he had to shake her off to breathe. 

Narfi already had his head in a book by the time he was in the car. Loki clipped Vali into her car seat, glanced around for any witnesses, and conjured an illusory pigeon to sit on Vali’s lap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did actually draw my A level astrophysics revision on my mum's kitchen wall (it was tiled, she used to write shopping lists on the tiles with board markers), and she kept it there for ages. 
> 
> Narfi's two books are Zoe's Rescue Zoo and Journey to the River Sea, if you've got kids, read them. If you don't have kids, read Eva Ibbotson's books anyway.
> 
> Thank you all for your patience and kindness with this silly thing!


End file.
